Wednesday, August 13, 2008

OK, you gotta keep your old clunker running 2-3 more years until the GM Volt is released.

Current estimates have the Volt going about 40 miles before a little gas engine kicks in to increase range. Five more years of battery development will increase range enough to wean us from gas entirely.

As we all have hoped, technology will get us out of this mess, and please note that the free market economy is what encourages innovations. Government incentive programs should be used sparingly. Case in point, the laws that encouraged ethanol production have affected food prices. It's hard to predict unintended consequences, and the free market is smarter than any of us.

Daily driving trips will be done with an electric car that plugs into the grid at home, work or anywhere. Today's grid can already handle this growing demand, but it must become a smarter grid. Digital powerline signals will meter your electricity usage wherever you plug in. The V2G part comes into play during those demand peaks. All the electric cars that are plugged in during those times will be called upon to put electricity back on the grid, thereby avoiding any potential brownouts.

The reason electricity wins is because it is TEN TIMES cheaper than gas per mile driven. Wind electricity is already cheaper than coal, PV electricity promises to be even cheaper than that.

To learn more, google "V2G" The links change daily.

Of course the solution for the long-distance freight industry has been obvious for 150 years. Trains will replace trucks, a perfect reversal of the 20th century. Electric trucks will be developed to distribute the freight on a local basis.

About Me

He received a BS in Engineering Physics from the Colorado School of Mines in 1977. During the country's first Solar Era, he received an MS in Mechanical Engineering and Solar Technology from CSU (1979) After involvement in hundreds of solar thermal systems in the early 80's, he received several product design patents. The focus of this blog is low and zero energy home design and construction for Denver.